Police to use voice samples to nail Tunda

As the bomb-making guru of a generation of terrorists, Tunda remained in contact with several sleeper cells of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The crime branch of Delhi Police had intercepted several calls made to Lahore by terrorists, especially after terror strikes between 1996 and 1998.

Now, the same voice recordings will help the Delhi Police nail Tunda. The police will match the recordings with his original voice and police officers say it could be a crucial evidence.

The terrorists looked up to him and Tunda used to guide them on how to go about planting the bombs. Tunda was involved in 21 terrorist attacks in Delhi that were committed between 1994 and 1998.

The most devastating of these blasts was in a crowded private bus at Punjabi Bagh in Delhi in December 1997.

The blast took place when the bus, running between Ajmeri Gate and Nangloi, reached Rampura in Punjabi Bagh. Four people were killed and 24 others were injured in the terror strike.

“It was during the investigation of these blasts that we intercepted calls in which terrorist were talking to Tunda. The master bomb-maker was then in Lahore. One arrested terrorist, Mohammed Amir, had confirmed in his disclosure statement that the blasts were carried out on the instructions of Tunda,” said an officer, who was part of the investigation team.

The police team had raided a hideout in Maharani Bagh and recovered large quantity of potassium chloride from Tunda’s brother.“Tunda had also trained youths of a pro-Khalistan outfit in bomb making. He had told his men not to use phones to evade the radar of security agencies. On the phone, he used to direct young terrorists how they should escape after planting a bomb,” the officer added.

Tunda had trained terrorists in preparing bombs with material which is freely available in local markets such as urea, nitric acid, potassium chloride, nitrobenzene and sugar.